ESL Summer Camp activity ideas

Previously, I wrote about ESL summer camps, in particular, one that I worked on last year in Poznan, Poland. The response I got from the blog gave me the idea to highlight how I combine creativity and ESL teaching.

In total I delivered a range of activities/lessons for age groups between 6-18 ticking the boxes of curiosity, creativity and excitement; children animal photography workshops, circle games, indoor and rainy games, nature games and Olympic sports games.

Activity ideas – ages 6-13 Photography lesson
Start with the basics in photography composition, in my case, I made a PowerPoint presentation showing examples of each rule;

Rule of thirds

Leading lines

Fill the frame

Symmetry and patterns

Negative spaces

Point of view

With this done you can use the lesson for the following activities:

Scavenger hunt – put them in teams and ask them to create x5 photos using each composition rule

Creative writing – using the location of the camp ask them to take a photograph of something and write a short story about it

Film workshop – designing your own animation strips using templates provided to create a historical zoetrope

Point 5, let’s make a pre-film animation device. Instructions – how to make a zoetrope using the template provided.

Step 1 Materials

X1 sheet of black card

X1 plastic plate

White paper (for the animation strips)

Pencils

A long ruler

String

Glue stick

Sticky tape

Step 2 Measure and cut cylinder

The template shows 26.5cm in width and 6.5cm in length

Each slit is 0.2cm wide and 2cm long with a 4cm gap

There should be 12 in total

Step 3 Make a circle

Once the template is cut use sticky tape to join the two and make a circle

This is why the black card is used for the outer body

Place the body on the plastic plate as shown

Step 4 Spinning

Measure out a 30cm piece of string x4 times

Attach it to the plastic plate base

Spin and see the animation come to life

Activity ideas – ages 14-18 Film Noir workshop
Project groups will get tasks of creating short films based on Film Noir, using dialogues from films like North by North West.

With this done you can use the lesson for the following activities:

Film night – show relevant films to the students as inspiration and ask them to note key dialogues, therefore, increasing vocabulary

Film quiz – tell students that there will be a quiz about the film, this can be done the following evening

Create a film – using smartphones, location, project groups and guidance of the ESL teachers based on the camp’s theme

Black and white portrait photography – make a list of words and ask them to react; sad, happy, love, anger, etc

Storytelling – around a campfire or during BBQs

Mafia game – team games, ice-breakers and popular with summer camps

I hope this information has been useful for newly qualified ESL teachers and those wishing to start a career in teaching English abroad. Watch this space for more TEFL advice/tips on teaching English abroad.

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